X-Cart forums

[B00MER]

Personally I think checkout systems should be as wizard'ish as possibly, Next/Back and Cancel.

Forms as compact and with only the bare requirements. Make use of autofills as much as possible keeping input value names correctly named.

I think this whole type of thinking is what spawned Amazons 1-click buy abilities.

"Don't make me think"

[flyingsaucer]

Overstock.com has a very similar setup. First step asking email username, seconda step the rest. Also notice on both checkouts, they have extra info boxes on the side assuring the customer that the checkout is secure, and urge them to complete the purchase because the items maynot be available when/if they come back.

These are clear indications that they spent some time to figure things out and optimize checkout.

Checkout is VERY important.

Another thing about checkout is, I noticed when customer enters an invalid card number xcart still displays that "order being processed" screen and places the order as failed and sends email out to user. What is the point here. All it does is to confuse everyone.
If the transaction is invalid, just show error and thats it, why place an order in database and set it to failed, and more importantly, why send an email to customer?

I think these should be done once they come to the successful order placement screen.

As a new xcart use, finding out weird stuff as well as very nice features.

[iConcepts]

If the transaction is invalid, just show error and thats it, why place an order in database and set it to failed, and more importantly, why send an email to customer?

Exactly. If the transaction fails, I want to help the customer resolve it instantly while I still have his attention. The customer wants his purchased items NOW and I am anxious to take care of him.

I think some of this is the result of selling egoods where customers essentially have "instant notification". X-Cart needs more developers with experience selling hard goods and who understand how quickly a sale can evaporate.

Bob

[gastu]

is possible an option to disable the cents in currency.

[Paul H]

I have a version 4.0.15 of xcart but haven't got around to going live so is it worth waiting for this new version to arrive fully tested and debugged or just carry on with my current version. The one thing that sticks out is this easier checkout routine. Once I have gone live with my store I won't be upgrading it ever due to the huge amount of hassle it would be.
So YES or NO is my non programmer question ?

[ManFromDet]

Originally Posted by Paul H

I have a version 4.0.15 of xcart but haven't got around to going live so is it worth waiting for this new version to arrive fully tested and debugged or just carry on with my current version. The one thing that sticks out is this easier checkout routine. Once I have gone live with my store I won't be upgrading it ever due to the huge amount of hassle it would be.
So YES or NO is my non programmer question ?

I'm a fellow non-programmer as well. Or, although I maintain my own store, I'm far less technical than the majority on this forum.

Whether or not you move forward depnds upon how quickly you want to get your store up and running. If you're in no rush, then wait. But if you want to get started before the new year, then I'd suggest using the 4.0.x series.

I plan to move to 4.1.x as well, but I won't upgrade to the newest "bug free" version right away. I will wait at least 3 to 5 versions down the line before I move forward. That will ensure a truly "bug free" (relatively speaking) cart. And that won't happen until spring of 2006. (I perform version upgrades very sparringly, the thought of disrupting sales due to technical difficulties scares me.)

Lastly, a fresh install on a new server rather than upgrading an existing account is the way to go (imho). Just install, configure, transfer your DB, redirect your URL, and you're on your way.

[BCSE]

Originally Posted by Paul H

I have a version 4.0.15 of xcart but haven't got around to going live so is it worth waiting for this new version to arrive fully tested and debugged or just carry on with my current version. The one thing that sticks out is this easier checkout routine. Once I have gone live with my store I won't be upgrading it ever due to the huge amount of hassle it would be.
So YES or NO is my non programmer question ?

Paul,

To give you an idea of how long it may take for 4.1 to become stable, it took 4.0.x over 9 months, and 3.5.x about 6 months. I don't remember the times for 3.4.x and 3.3.x So 4.1 is still in beta, I would estimate 6-12 months for it to be come "stable" This is just based upon past history. I could be wrong. I'm sure they'll have 4.1.0 out (non-beta) well before then, but it usually takes many months for a new branch to be considered "stable" and mostly bug free.

So really it depends on when you want to open.

I'm hoping they will take their time to get this first version out, and have it mostly bug free from the start. So that they aren't "fighting fires" and can concentrate on working the hopefully small remaining bugs out.

On upgrading, for me, that's no big deal. But I've done countless upgrades for people. From 3.3.5 all the way up to 4.0.16 Upgrading can take someone who knows what they are doing, from as little as 1 hour to do, to 10's of hours. Just depends on how many versions your moving from/to and how much your store is modified.

Hope this helps.

Carrie

[NuAlpha]

Another feature for that would be handy for developers and non-developers is to be able to exlude a remote address from contacting the payment gateway during checkout while the store is live. I have had to implement this in our own store so that when something might be amiss I don't have to disable the entire store front to test out the checkout system nor do I have to switch the payment gateway to "test mode".

This way if there is some adjustment that needs to be made, or some minor problem to be examined, I don't have to turn away our customers with a "shop closed" sign and I also don't wrack up payment gateway fees such as those charged during credit card usage.

[Light Speed]

I would like to see a functioning backorder system within X-Cart .

It could function like this:

Customer orders three things.

Part A
Part B
Part C

For some reason my inventory was off and Part B is not in stock. The customer has already paid for it. I would like to be able to mark Part B as on backorder in their order and ship them Part A and Part C now and set their order to backorder status. They would receive an email that their order has shipped but part B is on backorder and the backordered item is marked so in the email.

When Part B comes back in stock I want to be able to go into their order and change the backordered product to shipping and set their order to complete. The store should then email them letting them know that that item has shipped.

The email could be as easy two new columns in the invoice Status and Backorder.

[youngvet1]

I would like to see

the ability to set something as out of stock, without inventory tracking enabled.


Because many of us do not stock an item so we have no use for inventory tracking and we do not know when it will all of a sudden be out of stock, so we still need to be able to set it as out of stock

But if i had to prioritize what should be done: i would say

further enhance the checkout-- as the new version still is not that great.
optimize for speed.
directly integrate major shipping carriers API into x-cart.

IMO i would not even bother to release until the above is taken care of